UNHCR recently received funds from the United Nations
Foundation for a project to combat micronutrient deficiencies among refugees.
The project aims to enhance the nutritional status of refugee children, women
and adolescents in four countries: Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda and Ethiopia. The
project, to be completed in two years, is expected to do the
following:

· explore the use of
iron cooking pots as a vehicle to address iron deficiency anaemia which is an
endemic problem among refugee populations (jointly with WFP);

· alleviate anaemia and improve
pregnancy outcomes through the use of multiple micronutrient
supplements.

During the second half of the year 2000, UNHCR launched, in
collaboration with WFP, a pilot project to investigate the use of iron cooking
pots in refugee settings as a vehicle to address iron deficiency among high risk
groups. This part of the project is implemented through the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta and the Institute of Child Health (ICH)
in London. It was launched in Tanzania by means of a pilot test in a small camp.
Distribution of the pots in a larger camp is expected to take place early in
2001 pending positive results from the initial pilot test.

In the other three countries (Uganda, Kenya and Ethiopia)
micronutrient supplementation for pregnant women will be investigated. The
development of field-friendly techniques is an ongoing process and agencies in
the field have expressed great interest and willingness to
collaborate.

The ultimate goal of the project is to improve the nutritional
status of refugee women, adolescents and children by way of:

· Investigating the
possible provision and use of iron pots over the standard aluminium pots (see p
33) used to improve the iron content in the refugees diet, which may
eventually lead to a change in policy.

· Drafting operational
guidelines on the provision of micronutrient supplements to targeted
groups.

· Introducing field-friendly
techniques to assess micronutrient deficiencies in refugee camps, which will
facilitate timely and accurate assessment and appropriate interventions to
reduce excess morbidity and mortality among refugee women, children and
adolescents. The final results of the project are expected in 2002.

Nutrition And The Environment: The Importance Of Wood And
Water World Food Programme

People suffer from malnutrition due to a combination of
factors that are directly related to environmental conditions. The links between
nutrition and the environment may appear obvious, but they often go unnoticed
when planning assistance programmes. This is especially true during the frantic
early days of responding to a crisis. For example, food variety, food
preparation practices and sanitary conditions are often assessed separately from
food needs.

· For many of the
worlds poorest people, natural resources are the basis for their
livelihood strategies in normal times and ensure their very survival in times of
crisis. In Southern Sudan, the reliance on wild foods can be a coping mechanism
necessary for survival. However, negative coping mechanisms can endanger life,
health or longer-term food security. In Somalia, people resorted to eating seeds
that had been coated with pesticides. In Tanzania, instead of eating the maize
food provided by the international community, people planted the seeds, even
though it was a hybrid variety and could not produce a future crop.

The Availability of Fuel-wood

The availability of fuel-wood is a crucial link between
environment and nutrition. In times of fuel-wood shortage, households may be
forced to change their cooking habits - reducing the number of meals, the
quantity of food consumed and the types of food cooked. Fuel-wood shortages may
also affect the quality and nutritional value of food consumed.

· Refugees in
Bangladesh were prohibited from collecting standing wood and were given no fuel;
they burned corncobs to prepare their meals. They resorted to selling part of
their food aid and risked imprisonment for collecting fuel-wood
illegally.

Insufficient boiling of water due to fuel shortages may
increase the incidence of illness from consuming contaminated water or poorly
prepared food. Children are particularly affected by diarrhea caused by poor
hygiene or improperly cooked foods.

· In Angola, newly
displaced women were forced to use leaves and twigs for cooking. Water did not
boil due to an inadequate fire, contributing to waterborne diseases and diffic
ulties in cooking beans. It took up to ten hours of cooking for the beans to
reach an edible state.

In times of fuel-wood scarcity women spend extra time
searching for wood. This is time they could spend producing and preparing food,
caring for children and earning income. Womens security also becomes an
issue as they seek fuel-wood further from home.

· Refugees living in
camps in Tanzania spend, on average, two entire days each week and travel great
distances to obtain sufficient fuel-wood. Violence against women is also a
problem: as many as one in four female refugees has been assaulted in search of
fuel-wood.

WFPs Response

WFP addresses nutrition-environment linkages by providing food
to be consumed immediately - with specific activities designed to prevent
malnutrition - and by meeting longer-term food needs. WFP considers a number of
strategies to reduce demand and prevent deforestation and adverse nutritional
impacts when fuel-wood is scarce. These include: providing pre-cooked blended
foods in place of beans, supplying finer-milled grains or furnishing local
milling facilities, and using energy-saving approaches, such as partial
pre-cooking of cereals and pulses. However, WFP is often limited to commodities
received from donors, leaving little flexibility in the foods provided. WFP
encourages donors to provide food commodities that reduce cooking time, such as
pre-cooked yellow split peas. WFP also works with its partners to assure the
supply of cooking fuel and the inputs for wood production.

WFP times its assistance to coincide with the lean or hungry
season, the critical time when people depend on forest plants and other natural
resources for food and income. In India WFP assisted forest-dependent villagers
to increase production of traditional forest commodities and conserve indigenous
species.

WFP is committed to ensuring that women have adequate food and
their nutrition is not put at risk. In many cultures, women and girls eat last
and suffer most when there is insufficient food in the household. This is why
WFP has established targets to put 80% of WFPs relief food directly in the
hands of women, and between 50- 60% of its resources under the control of women
in other situations. Also, WFP asks women about their need for food as well as
the availability of clean water, sanitary facilities and complementary inputs
such as fuel.

WFP is working with its partners to generate awareness about
the causes of malnutrition. We know it is as much a health and environmental
issue as a food problem. We are working to ensure that all of our programmes
reflect these important linkages.